BELFAST - Mary Mortier edged out Chris Knight in the only contested Belfast City Council race, winning the Ward 1 seat vacated by two-term Councilor Marina Delune.

Delune opted not to run for re-election. Councilors Roger Lee and Nancy Hamilton, from Wards 2 and 5 respectively, were each re-elected in uncontested races.

By an unofficial count on Tuesday night, the Ward 1 contest was decided by 188 votes. Mortier's opponent Chris Knight took Ward 5 by a decent margin and was favored slightly by voters of Wards 3 and 4, but Mortier took Wards 1 and 2 handily along with a majority of the absentee ballots cast (see below for complete tallies). The citywide total was 1,568 to 1,380.

Mortier, who works locally as a realtor and organizes the annual New Year's by the Bay Festival, will be taking elected office for the first time.

In past races she'd been asked to run, she said, and each time she'd had no qualms about refusing. This time, however, she said a number of well-timed events — three people asking in the span of two hours and the departure of Councilor Delune who she respects — conspired to make it an easy decision.

Mortier said she comes to the table with no agenda but has a strong interest in economic development and believes that it will take time to see the benefits of the work the Council does. She sees Belfast as still in the midst of a transition from offering manufactuing jobs that required few specialized skills to something yet to be determined, and that some care is warranted not to overlook those who once relied on the manufacturing jobs. 

"Parts of Belfast are booming," she said, emphasizing the word "parts."

"Not everywhere and not everybody, and I think that's why Chris Knight hit such a chord with the number of votes he got," she said. "We need jobs across the board in terms of skill range and salary range."

Knight ran on a platform of representing resident he believed had been overlooked by the city.

Mortier said she brings business experience and strong organizational skills to the Council. She has been impressed, she said, with the way councilors have worked through problems in recent years, and she attributed this partly to the number of uncontested re-election campaigns — the absence of distractions. At the same time, she said, she would like to see more residents tuned in and talking with local officials, especially in the early stages of larger plans.

As a representative of the whole city, and particularly in light of the close election, she said, her task will be to represent as many citizens of Belfast as she can. 

"God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason," she said, suggesting she hopes to do more listening than talking.

Penobscot Bay Pilot reporter Ethan Andrews can be reached at ethanandrews@penbaypilot.com 

unofficial results
Belfast City Council - Ward 1

Wards 1/ 2: Mortier - 492, Knight - 344
Wards 3/4:  Mortier - 430, Knight - 441
Ward 5:       Mortier - 182, Knight - 233
Absentee:   Mortier - 464, Knight - 362

Total:       Mortier - 1,568, Knight - 1,380